Greece and Italy

Hello my friends,

Since my last update I have been all over the place. After the Kibbutz we spent 10 days in Nazareth, volunteering at Nazareth Village and 4 of those days were spent hiking the Jesus Trail. The Jesus trail might have been my favorite part of the whole trip thus far. I really enjoyed it. To read about our experiences there you can go to

http://emu.edu/now/crosscultural/2011/04/11/nazareth-village-and-the-jesus-trail/

to read the blog written by another group member.

After Nazareth we flew from Tel Aviv to Athens, Greece. We spent 5 days there learning about Paul's missionary journies in Greece. We toured the Acropolis and the Parthenon and a bunch of other really awesome ruins. We had plenty of time to walk around the area in Athens and we got to know it pretty quick in the short time we were there. I ate lamb gyros and huge sugar covered donuts almost everyday. It was awesome!

On our last day in Greece we took a bus to Corinth and Linford gave us insight to the work Paul did there, and we read some of Corinthians. It was pretty cool, I love traveling in the land of the Bible. After Corinth we rode the bus for a long time and then reached the coast. That is where we boarded the Ferry that would take us across the Meditteranean Sea to Bari, Italy. The ferry was so fun. It was my first time being on a boat in any body of water bigger than a lake. So i really enjoyed that. I even got to see a beautiful red glowing sunrise over the water. It was amazing.

After we arrived in Bari we boarded a bus and rode all day to reach Rome. This is where I am currently. It has been an awesome week so far. We get to eat out for lunch and dinner, so you know I've had my fill of pasta and pizza and gelato. The food here is wonderful. I love it! So far here in Rome I have seen the Colosseum, Pantheon, went to Vatican City, saw the Pope and heard him give the Ash Wednesday service, toured St. Peter's Basilica, went to the Vatican Museum which included seeing the Sistene Chapel which was so cool!, been to numerous other huge and richly ornamented churches and walked until my legs ached each day. It has been wonderful.

Today is the first of the four days of free travel in Italy that we get. I am currently still in Rome but a group of us are taking a night train to Venice, staying there one night and then taking a night train back. It will be a short but I'm sure unforgettable experince. I have wanted to go to Venice my whole life, and I finally get to. And of course, a trip to Venice isn't complete without a gondola ride, so that is definately going to happen. I can't wait, I am so excited for that!!!

Next Tuesday we leave the hotel at 6 am to go to the airport. After that the plan is to arrive back in Dulles at 3 pm. It has been a wonderful semester and I am so thankful for all the support I have gotten from everybody at home. I can't wait to see you. It won't be much longer now.

Blessings to you all and see you soon!

-Allison

Week at the Kibbutz

Hello all,

Currently I am stationed in Nazareth at the Fauzi Azar Inn. We arrived on Sunday and I have really enjoyed my time here thus far. We got a tour of Nazareth Village last night. Nazareth Village is Mennonite affiliated and it is a recreation of a 1st century town. They have people come in and work and dress first century and it is really neat. We even had a 1st century meal last night. We ate with our hands and made our own pita over the fire. It was so fun and the food was delicious. On Thursday we start hiking the Jesus trail. It is a 40 mile hike over 4 days from Nazareth to Capernaum. If you want to know more about the Jesus Trail, the website is www.jesustrail.com. So we will do that until Sunday, and then we will return to Nazareth for a few days before we end our journeys in Israel and head to Greece.

Last week we stayed at a Kibbutz. A Kibbutz is a intentional group living community. In the days when they first began they shared everything, and were very communist based. They are much more modern now, and they had a guesthouse where we made our home. While at the Kibbutz we were with a program at a nearby college, Oranim. Three days last week we went into Oranim and had lectures and toured and met with students. It was a really good time. We also spent a few days at the Kibbutz relaxing and working on our final papers for the semester.

On Friday I had the opportunity to help our leader for the week, prepare a Shabbot meal in her home. It a lot of fun, and very eye opening. The Jewish beliefs make it difficult to cook easily, as their kosher laws require meat and dairy to never interact. This involves the oven being cleaned after a meat use to cook something dairy. The same with the sink. And she had special dishes and utensils that were for meat or dairy. It was a pain, I'm so glad I don't have to cook like that all the time. Though, the food was delicious despite the difficulty in preparing it.

This may be my last update in Israel. I'm not sure if I will have time the few days back in Nazareth before we fly out.

So to all of you, I love you, I miss you, and I can't wait to see many of you in a short 3 weeks!

~Allison

Good Bye Jerusalem

Today is my final day here in Jerusalem. It is about 6:30 a.m. and I am up because I got up to watch the sunrise over the city. It was so beautiful. I am going to miss this place so much, but I also have so much to look forward to still. Next week on a Kibbutz in the Galilee, that is going to be fun.

This week we had it pretty easy. Each morning we would have some sort of guest speaker, lecture, or Hebrew class. We got to learn a lot about Judaism and how it works here in Jerusalem. Learning Hebrew was a lot of fun. The time was short, but I did learn a few things, and I can even write my name in Hebrew. It is pretty awesome.

After the morning classes, we would have the afternoon either free or to do activities that Linford assigned us. On Tuesday we went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum. We took the public bus system there, and it a very meaningful, eye opening time.

As you may have heard, on Wednesday there was a bus bombing here in Jerusalem. Someone dropped off a bomb in a bag at a bus stop across from the central bus station. The blast killed one woman and injured many others. When I heard about it I was kind of in shock. We had ridden those buses the day before, we stopped at that bus stop. It is terrifying to think what could've happened. However, everyone in our group is safe and we praise God for looking out for us. This bus bombing is the first one in Jerusalem in seven years. Our leader was just beginning to think it was safe, usually they don't let the students take the public bus system. So I just want to ask each one of you to remember Jerusalem in your prayers. Pray for the people who where injured and their families, pray for the person who set it off that he will hurt no more, pray for peace here in Jerusalem. That is my prayer everyday.

On Friday night, Shabbot, the Jewish sabboth begins at sundown. So, we had a Jewish man and his family come lead us in a typical Friday night (Shabbot) tradition. First we went down to the Western Wall, previously known as the "wailing wall" and watched all the Jews praying, and singing, and dancing, and celebrating their holy day. It was pretty cool to see. Then we went back to the place we are staying and had a Shabbot meal, with the family. There is the ritual of breaking bread and drinking grape juice and some songs and prayers. It was fun to be a part of, and really great to kind of experience what the Jewish holy day is like.

Today we leave at 1:00. We will go to church somewhere this morning, eat lunch, and be on our way. My time here is drawing to a close, and I am on the brink of a new adventure.

Blessings,
Allison

To Turkey and Back Again

Wow, the past week has been quite the adventure. Last Sunday in the early morning Darian Harnish, Emily Harnish and myself set out to the airport. We arrived to Tel Aviv three hours before our flight departed and it took 2.5 of them to get through security and make it to our gate. The airport workers did not like that we had traveled to Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. So we got asked many questions and got labeled a 6. That is the highest number on their security system. A 6 means that everything in our check luggege and carry ons get taken out and searched. They run a stick with a cloth on the end over everything and analyze it, checking for explosive residue. A 6 also means that we get taken to a back room and "strip searched." Which pretty much meant I had to take of my jacket and they patted me down. Not as intense as it sounds. But after finally deciding that we were innocent travelers they led us through all the other security stops and we made it to our gate just in time for the final call.

The flight was uneventful and we made it to Turkey in about an hour. Arriving in Antalya was phenomenal. Antalya is a port city on the Southern coast of Turkey. There are snow capped mountains in the distance. It was quite lovely. Our hotel was about a minutes walk from the coast line. However, to get to the old city and marina it was about a 2 hour walk. Which we did three of the four days we were there. The third day we walked about 2 hours in the other direction to see the waterfalls off the coast it was so amazing. The entire coastline is lined with public parks and pathways. It was wonderful to walk there each day. Also each night we were in Turkey we watched the sunset over the snow capped mountains, just beyond the Mediterranean Sea. Such a sight to behold. 4 days in Turkey were not enough, but very enjoyable. I am so glad that I went.

The Duden Waterfalls.


The sun setting over the snow capped mountains.

The coastline of Antalya from a lookout near our hotel.

We returned to Jerusalem on Thursday and stayed at a newly opened hostel just outside the Old City. We relaxed there for 3 days before rejoining the group at Ecce Homo convent.

It was a very wonderful and relaxing week. That's all for now!

Much love,
Allison

Done already?

Wow, so the two weeks at JUC have passed very quickly. Since my last post we have been up in the region of the Galilee. We spent 4 days and 3 nights in the Galilee region before returning to Jerusalem last night in time for the Shabbot (Sabbath) meal.

Beginning on Tuesday we battled rain every step of the way. We had almost constant rain the whole 4 days we were in the Galilee, with breaks in the clouds just long enough to get some great pictures, or to tour a site without getting too soaked. Thank goodness for my waterproof shoes and coat. They were amazing!!

So on Tuesday we set off and went to Beth-She'an, an important trade city back in the day. We also went to Megiddo, another important trade city, and then we went up to Mount Carmel and read the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. It was so cool. If you keep reading the story, you find that Elijah goes down to Mt. Sinai and finds God in the quiet whisper after the earthquake, wind, and fire. So while we were reading this story, a big storm was blowing in, and all of a sudden, the rain came pouring down on us. It was awesome! We all got soaked running down the muddy path to get back to the bus, but it was totally worth it. I will think of that every time I read the story of Elijah. God's works are so amazing. After the torrential rain had passed, we headed over to the Nazareth Ridge. There we went to what is known as the "jumping cliff." This is supposedly the site where Jesus was taken by the people of Nazareth to be thrown of the cliff. Some say that Jesus jumped off instead and was carried away on the wind, thus the name "jumping cliff." Below is a view of the Jezreel Valley from the "jumping cliff."

Then we headed to En-Gev, a Holiday Resort on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. It was an amazing place to stay. When we pulled up the sun was beginning to set and this was the view we were greeted with on the shores of the Galilee. So amazing!

The next three days passed in sort of a blur we drove around a lot and saw so many things. We went to Hazor, Capernum, Ceasarea Philippi, Dan, Kursi, Qasrin, Bethsaida, Mt. Hermon, different outlooks on the Golan heights, we rode on a boat across the Sea of Galilee, and ended our time in the Galilee by heading to the Mediterranean Sea to visit Ceasarea.

Most of you probably recognize most of the places I visited, and that's okay. A lot of them were important trade cities. Pretty much the focus of the Galilee was the accessibility for trade. So I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Galilee and look forward to returning to it in a few weeks. This time we will be staying on a Kibbutz and hiking the Jesus Trail. It should be fun.

For the mean time though, I leave for Antalya, Turkey early tomorrow morning for my free travel. I'm looking forward to a few relaxing days on the beaches of the Mediterranean Sea. Then we will be returning to Jerusalem for a week, and then up to the Galilee again. Only about 6 weeks left. Time is passing quickly.

Much love,

Allison

A Very Busy Week

Wow, this week has been crazy busy and so amazing. I have loved every minute of it. We have done so much traveling around the country and seen so many awesome sights. Let me try to tell you about them all.

We are studying at Jerusalem University College for a two week historical geography course. This consists of getting up bright and early each morning, jumping on the bus after a quick breakfast, and heading off to all reaches of the country of Israel.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, in the morning we had 4 hours of class time, lunch, and then in the afternoon got walking tours around Jerusalem. This included going to see the Temple Mount, Western Well, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the City of David, walking through a water filled tunnel, going to the Mount of Olives, and various important historical sites around the city. Wow. I just love Jerusalem. So much history of the Bible, so much history in general, and it is a beautiful city. Below are pictures from Jerusalem.

A night scene of New Jerusalem from the roof of JUC.

A view of the Old City of Jerusalem from the City of David.

A view of the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

A great picture I caught of the sun rays while walking through the old city.

Then on Thursday we traveled to different locations around the city of Jerusalem so we could get a picture of the lay of the land. We saw Jerusalem from almost all the different approaches, North, South, East, and West. We started off in a beautiful hiking area called Safat, went to Mt. Scopus on the Mount of Olives, for lunch we had a picnic on the "hill of evil counsel" (ironically this is where the UN building is located), then we went to some archeological dig site towards the western part of Jerusalem.

The last three days have passed in kind of a blur so I will go through them quickly. We went to Shiloh - site of the wilderness tabernacle, Gezer, Bet-Shemesh - possible home of Deliah of Sampson and Deliah, had bus trouble, made it back safely, had a Shabbat meal of Friday night, went to Azekah - site of the story of David and Goliath, Ashkelon - got to swim in the Mediterranean Sea, Beer Sheba - home of Abraham, Arad - an important trade city, stayed overnight in a youth hostel in Arad, hiked up to Masada - one of Herod's many desert palaces, swam in waterfall pools in En Gedi - where David spared Saul's life, floated in the Dead Sea, visited Qumron where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, made it back to JUC.

Now it is today. I'm exhausted from such a busy but amazing week. I got lots of sun, thankfully no burns. The weather has been glorious, though I think it is going to rain this week. I had a wonderfully relaxing free morning, and in a little while we will have a test on everything we learned in the past 7 days. Craziness.

Tomorrow we leave and have a 4 day/ 3 night trip up in the Galilee area. We will be staying in a hotel on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. So much more to learn and see. I'm looking forward to it.

Love you all,

~Allison

In Jerusalem

Hello all,

Sorry it has been so long since my last post, but we have been very busy! Since my last post our group has traveled to Allepo and Palmyra while still in Syria. Then we headed to Jordan for a week where we visited Amman, Petra, and camped in the desert with the Beduins in Wadi Rum. While in Wadi Rum, we got to tear around the desert in the back of trucks, watched the sunset while sitting on top of a sand dune, and got about an hours worth of a camel ride. It was all so much fun. After Jordan we headed into Palestine for a week.

This past week in Palestine we stayed with host families and did a one week tour program with ATG (Alternative Tourism Group). I was with three other girls from my group and we stayed with the Awwad family. I really enjoyed the setup of their house. The mother (grandmother) lived on the first floor which is where the four of us girls stayed. The 2nd floor was home to one of her sons, his wife, and their 4 children. The 3rd floor was home to the other son, his wife, and their 3 children. We ate breakfast every morning with the grandmother on the first floor, and we switched each night between eating on the 2nd or 3rd floors. We usually ate by ourselves, just the four of us since their big meal of the day is early in the afternoon around 2. The schools get out around 1:30 and most shops close between 12 and 3, so this is when they all gather to eat. Then in the evening they just have a small snack and fruit. We were taken such good care of while in Palestine. The food was so good, I miss it already. After the dinner meal we would retire to the living room where we would be served tea or Arabic coffee. Then a little bit later some sort of snacks or sweet would be brought out. Then even later a variety of fresh fruit and more drinks were offered. I was never hungry while in the Awwad's house. The one family had a little girl about 7 years old. She spoke hardley any English, but we were able to play together anyway. It was so cute because she could say Allison, so she decided to call me Lucy. Her mom kept telling her my name was Allison, but she would shake her head and say "no, Lucy!" She was adorable. It was a wonderful experience, and I was sad to leave them this morning.

With the tour program we did a lot of things packed into the week. We had about 6 different lectures, got to see a small portion of the separation wall, went to a refugee camp, toured both Bethleham Bible College and Bethleham University, went to the Church of the Nativity and saw where Jesus may have been born, saw the Shepherd's Fields where they watched over their flocks by night, went to Hebron, helped plant grape vines at Tent of the Nations, went to an Israeli Settlement and had a discussion with a settler, hiked inthrough Wadi Qelt to Jericho and possibly through the "valley of the shadow of death," saw the Mount of Temptation, and the Sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbed. It was a pretty amazing week. I saw things that I never imagined I would ever experience. And walking through the land where Jesus lived is such an amazing feeling, it is hard to wrap my mind around.

Now I am in Jerusalem. We are staying at Jerusalem University College where we will be taking a two week Historical Geography course. Our orientation begins at 8 am tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. JUC is located just outside the walls of the old city of Jerusalem, and there is plenty of shopping to be done!! We have dinner in about 20 minutes and I can't wait to see what kind of good food will be prepared for us!

If any of you are interested in leaving comments of any Bible verses that are encouraging to you, I would love to hear from you.

Much love,
Allison

Two Days Left

I am sad to say, that we only have two days left in Damascus. The past three weeks have been so enjoyable and have passed so quickly. I have loved my time here, it is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. And to think, I still have about 3 more months to experience new and amazing things. I still can't believe it sometimes.

This past week has been very routine. I get up around 7:30 each morning, get ready and head over to the dining room to enjoy my breakfast. We have the same thing every morning, and I love it. I am going to miss the pita, the jam, and my usual two cups of tea. Then around 8:30 we head over to the Old City to catch the bus to take us to our language school. The bus ride takes about 15-20 minutes depending on traffic. The best part is, that each bus ride only costs 10 syrian pounds which is roughly equivalent to 20 cents. Language class starts at 9:15 and ends at 1. We have two separate classes for our group, and we all love our teachers. They are wonderful teachers. Our teacher taught us a Syrian song, and then went on to write lyrics to fit the song that was about our group. It was so sweet of her, we love that song! She also brought in some Syrian music and she taught us a few dance moves. We have so much fun in our classes. After class is over, we either have the rest of the day to do whatever we want, or Linford will have a little assignment for us to do. During my free time, I love to walk around the Old City. Window shopping, people watching, real shopping, bartering, and practicing my language. I have bought a lot of things in Damascus, and I am wondering how I will fit it all into my bag. I have two days to figure that out. Dinner is at 7 every day, and we always have something delicious. Usually it consists of a rice based dish with a little bit of meat, vegetables, and either fresh fruit or a traditional dessert. Then we hang out in the evening, play games, email people, and head to bed. I like the routine, and it really helped this place feel home-y. Only two days left.

Today, with our language school, we went on a field trip to two places. Mar Musa, a monestary village/ living community in the mountains, and Maalula, a historical village that still speaks Aramic (the language that Jesus spoke). Despite the overcast day and almost constant drizzle we really enjoyed ourselves. Our first stop was Mar Musa and we spent a few hours there. The picture below is of where the bus/van dropped us, and we hiked up to the building on the lower right hand side.

There was a path from where we parked to get up to the monestary and so we headed right on up. There was about 350 stairs that we had to climb. No I didn't count them, I was told that's how many there were. The picture below is a view from the top of what the stairs looked like.

A view from the "deck" of the building. If you can pick out a tiny white blob in the lower center, that is where the van parked.

There were really small doors at the monestary. I'm not sure what the purpose for that is.

This monestary is always open to hikers or anyone else that wants to stay for a night or more. The only requirement is that if you stay you help out with the work. Luis, a monk in his first year of training, told us that there are three main puritys: hard work, hospitality, and prayer. They practice all three of those there, but there is so much hospitality work to do that he thinks they are overworked, but its good, he said. There are only 4 monks that live there, 2 in training, 2 nuns, and then 1 nun in training. Today this is more of a living community than a strict monestary. We were very fortunate while we were there to meet with Father Paulo. We met with him for about an hour in a very small room, and we were definately shown a lot of hospitality. We were all crammed into a stone walled room, with a small fire stove in one corner. There were two tables in the middle and hardly enough room for all 23 of us to sit on the benches lining the walls. Then people kept bringing more and more food for us. We were served black tea, herbal tea, pita, marmalade, olives, and fresh made goat cheese produced on site. Everything was great, especially the cheese. Along with the good food we had great conversation. Father Paulo is a very intelligent man and he had some great ideas or thoughts about faith, life, and more. Sadly I didn't have anything with me to write down notes, so I can't remember anything he said specifically. I just remember thinking, "thats a really good point, I should remember that," a lot, and then I just ended up forgetting most of it. But our leader recorded it, so I will be able to look over that at a later time.

The one thing I do remember him saying really spoke to me especially in a setting where Christianity is a minority. I'm not quoting directly, I'm just going to paraphrase what I remember. He said something about, if you think your religion is the only way, you are shutting out the possibility for it to spread, and if you think that your tradition is the best ever, then you are keeping it from reaching its true greatness. He said more about this, but I can't remember. His words are good for me to remember when interacting with Muslims and Jews along the path of this trip. I'm also still trying to digest what all meaning can be found in this.

After our enjoyable visit at Mar Musa we headed back toward Damascus to visit Maalula. At Maalula is one of the oldest Christian churches in the world. It was nothing extravegent, not like the other churches I have toured in Syria. But it was quite a sight to see, the old stone walls, and an alter dating back to the 3rd or 4th century. There is also a monestary there built into the wall of a cliff, but the ravine was too muddy for us to go down there, so we just looked from afar.

That pretty much sums up my final week in Damascus. The next two days will be pretty routine, except tomorrow, the ladies of the group get to go to a Hamaam, or Roman/Turkish bath. There will be a steam room, a wash place, a sauna, a scrub room, and a massage thing. I don't really know what to expect out of it, but the guys went on Sunday and told us a little about it. I am looking forward to the experience, and getting very clean!!

Thursday we leave Damascus and travel to Elipo, Friday and Saturday we travel to and tour Palmira and other small sites along the way. Sunday we do return to Damascus for the day, but to a new location, and then Monday it is Ma Shallah Syria, Mahaba Jordan (good-bye Syria, hello Jordan). We will spend a few days in Amman, then head out into the dessert to stay with the Beduins, camping in the dessert and riding camels (no big deal). I don't know for sure when I will be able to post again. Internet will no longer be as easy access or free. So keep me in your prayers, and I will update again as soon as I can.

Love,

Allison

Home Sweet Home

After a 4 day weekend away from Damascus, it felt really nice to return to a familiar area. Though its not my real home, its probably the most homey place I will find this semester. After the next 2 weeks here in Damascus we move around a lot, not staying in one place for more than 2 weeks. So for now, I am enjoying a sense of familiarity and comfort that I am blessed to find half way around the world from my first home.

This weekend in Lebanon was short and sweet. We stayed at Hotel Mozart in Beirut. A mere 5 minute walk from the Mediterranean Sea. After the smoke, smog, and exhaust fumes in the Damascus air, being near the sea was a welcome change. Feeling the wind off the sea blowing my hair and breathing in the slightly salty smell was so wonderful. I look forward to when I get to return to the shores of the Mediterranean.

Last Thursday we departed Syria and headed for Lebanon, we crossed the border without any trouble and made it to Beirut in about 2 hours total. After settling in to my new room we had the rest of the day free to wander about and buy lunch. My friend Darian and I walked about 4.5 hours that day. Downtown Beirut is a lot more spread out than here in Damascus, so we didn't really know what we were getting into. Though my feet were sore by the end of it, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see the broader city than what just surrounds us. Beirut has some very beautiful buildings and the architecture is astounding. Many of the buildings are newly restored in the last 15 years or so. After the civil war that Lebanon had years ago, much of the city was bombed and destroyed. It was interesting to see beautiful, grand new hotels standing only a few yards from an old, decrepit, bombed and burned hotel. They are doing a lot of construction and renovation trying to restore Beirut to its former beauty, and I must say, they are doing a really great job.

Friday we toured Byblos, another coastal city where there are amazing ruins. Also a fun fact, Byblos is where the name of our holy book, the Bible, comes from. I forget why, by the tour guide told us. She also put so much other information into our heads most of it didn't stick for very long. Anyway, the ruins were beatiful, and right by the Mediterranean. The people that once lived there were very lucky.


Saturday we took a very long 2 hour bus ride through a valley and up and around some very steep mountains. We drove up to a ski resort and played in the snow and battled our leader Linford in a snowball fight. After about 15 minutes we were all happily wet and cold so we headed down the mountain a little ways. There we reached the Lebanon Cedar groves. These cedars only grow at a height of 1500 meters. They are huge trees and some are thousands of years old. One of the trees would take about 12 people to wrap arms all the way around. It was so crazy. Also the other neat thing about these Cedars, they were mentioned in the Bible. These are the Cedars that Solomon receives from a king whose name I don't remember. Anyway, Solomon uses the wood of the Cedars to build the temple in Jerusalem. That means they had to cut down these huge trees, somehow get them down 1500 meters of mountain to the coast, ship them down the sea to Israel, and then transport the trees up another mountain to where Jerusalem is located. Its amazing to think about.


Sunday we headed back to Syria and along the way we detoured to another ruins site of Baalbek. Baalbek was a pagan temple, with sections of worship for Jupiter and Venus. The ruins were amazing though. I can't even believe what it would have looked like in its prime. They had pillars reaching so high above my head. Twenty of me on top of each other probably wouldn't have been enough to reach the top. These ruins are one of the oldest and most well preserved temples in the world. It was such a blessing to be able to see it. Though it did rain all day long, so my pictures are kind of dreary. But in the last half hour or so the sun started peeking through. I didn't catch a rainbow at Baalbek but before we reached Damascus I saw 5 different rainbows. It was spectacular.
Now I am back in Damascus, with only 2 weeks left. I can't believe how fast time passes.

~Allison

One Week Down

It seems like a whole lot longer that just one week that has gone by since I left the states. I have experienced so much, and learned a lot more. Today is our day of rest, though most of Damascus is up and at em, since the Muslim holy day is on Friday. The usual busy packed streets and markets were almost ghostly empty on Friday. It’s a completely different life style here than what I’m used to in the States. Almost all of the Muslims take off on Friday and go to the mosque or stay at home at pray. Very few open their shops. I was very impressed by their dedication to their faith.

This week we had five days of language classes, and after each one I spent time in the Old City of Damascus. I bought food on the streets, window shopped for bargains, and was welcomed by many. On Friday, our assignment was to go into the Omyad Mosque in the Old City and observe the prayer time on their holy day. It was a pretty amazing experience. There were still a lot of children running around everywhere, but watching the people gather together and pray was inspiring. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but it didn’t matter. I also managed to communicate with a few different people in my limited Arabic ability. I even got to hold two different children, while trying to communicate with an older woman and then another family. The people here are so warm and welcoming, even though we don’t speak the same language. It only makes me want to learn more, faster so I can communicate with the people better.

Then yesterday our group decided to spend our day climbing up Mt. Cassion. One of the stories about this mountain is that on it Cain killed Abel. I don’t know if that is true or not, but it doesn’t really matter to me. The hike was worth it. We mostly just walked along side a road all the way up, because it wasn’t a good mountain to go off roading on. The view was absolutely astounding. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before. I didn’t know Damascus was so big, and I could see for miles and miles beyond Damascus. Though we would’ve been able to see farther, but there was haze from the city the clouded the view.

That about does it for now. On Thursday we will take a long weekend trip to Lebanon, I probably won’t post again until after that. I welcome your comments, emails, and prayers. Thanks for following and supporting me on this journey.

Salaam wa lekum (peace upon you)
~Allison

Finally in Syria

Wow, I can't believe I am finally here. It still seems so surreal although everything around me is so alive and very REAL. Let me back up and I will tell you about what I have been through since
I left the US just a few short days ago.

Friday at 5:45 our plane departed and everything went very smoothly. It was the longest flight I have ever taken, but I really enjoyed it. The view of Washington DC lights at night from the air was unlike anything I had ever seen. So beautiful. Seeing the sunrise from the airplane was also really cool. We landed in Vienna, and had about an hour layover. The next flight was only 4 hours from Vienna to Amman, Jordan. I slept almost the entire way. I did not even wake up when the food arrived and was placed in front of me, when the leader Janet shook me so I could eat, or when she called my name several times. By this time it was Saturday afternoon.

When we arrived in Jordan, the reality began to sink in a little. I could tell I was in another country, but still haven't wrapped my mind around the fact that I will live in these countries for 3 months. We got settled into our hotel, and explored the neighborhood a little. We didn't see much of Amman this time around, but we will return later in our travels and see much much more.

We left Amman early Sunday morning and headed to Syria. We sat at the Syrian border for almost two hours because the Syrian border police were being difficult, but eventually they let us continue on our way.A Syrian tour guide joined us then, and took us to Bosra. It is a city in Syria where there are ancient ruins dating back to the 2nd century. Almost everything was made with Basalt rock, I think is what they called it. Basalt is a very dark rock and very difficult to carve into. It creates very beautiful dark buildings and the Syrians were able to make beautiful intricate patterns into the rock. We got to look around the amphitheater, which is one of the most well preserved amphitheaters in the world. It was such a view. Everything in the ruins of Bosra was amazing. I can only imagine what this city looked like in its prime.


The top picture is a view of the amphitheater from the top. The second, a view from the bottom, and the third a picture of the ruins of the other parts of town.

We finally reached Damascus around 3 yesterday, we got settled into our rooms in the monastery dormitories. These rooms are way nicer than I expected. We have a private bath and shower, a television with Arabic cable channels, and a door to an outside patio. We ate dinner last night around 8 since that is the common time for Syrians to eat, if not earlier than normal. I am going to have to get used to having hard boiled eggs, goat cheese, olives, and pita alot. Since we had that for supper last night and for breakfast this morning.

At 8 this morning we set off towards Bab Sharqi (Bob Sharkey) one of the gates to the Old City of Damascus to catch the bus. It is about a ten minute walk to the Old City. The bus took us to where we will be taking language classes, called Berlitz. Their methodology for teaching is Immersion. They toss us into a classroom with our teacher and they only allow Arabic to be spoken in the room. They teach us by repetition and pointing. It is quite interesting. I can repeat things fairly well, but I probably only remember half of what we learned today. It is a very difficult language to learn. I can introduce myself "Es mi Allison" -- my name is Allison. I also remember the colors red and blue. "ahh-mar" and "ezrah". Not sure what I can do with this information. Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive.

We got to wander around the Old City after we were finished with our language class. It is quite a magnificent place, and I can't wait to see more of it.

I love you. I miss you.

Its Almost Time

Today is my last full day in the United States. Tomorrow my group and I will depart from the circle parking lot outside Lehman Auditorium at 12:30. Right now I'm feeling about every emotion possible for this situation. I'm excited to go to the Middle East and have some great experiences. I'm scared to leave my family and friends for such a long time. I'm nervous to enter into a new culture and try to understand it. I'm anticipating seeing all the historical Biblical sites. It is all just very surreal right now. I'm not really ready to believe that I will be leaving the country and going somewhere that I've always dreamed of going.

This week has been full of information and tips on how to travel and act in different cultures. I just hope I can remember everything. I'm sure I won't, but I know I will still have a great experience. By this time on Sunday I will be settled into Saint Elias Monastery in Damascus. I will have internet access while in Syria so look for my next post sometime next week.

Please keep me and my group in your prayers tomorrow and Saturday as we fly from Dulles Airport to Vienna, and then on to Amman, Jordan.

Feel free to leave comments or send me emails at allison.bontrager@emu.edu. I would love to hear from you or answer any questions you may have about my travels.

I love you all and know that I will miss you.

Orientation

Today was the first day of orientation. We all met at 9:30, and got bombarded with information and handouts, and other things we need to take along. Our leaders are Linford and Janet Stutzman, they are funny and rather scatterbrained. It is sometimes very difficult to follow what they are talking about because they jump around so much.

This week is going to be filled with a lot more orientation and too many goodbyes. But I know the months that follow will all be well worth it. Check back later this week for my last post in the United States.

- السلام - Salaam - Peace -

قريبا‎ - soon

The title above speaks the truth. Soon. My departure is approaching quickly now with only 4 days left in Iowa and only 9 days left in the United States. I can't believe how fast time has passed. I still have so much left to do before feeling a little prepared for this trip. Packing, shopping, writing, reading, seeing people, saying goodbye, and then more packing. Right now I strongly side with the cliche: "so much to do, so little time." Please remember me in your prayers in the coming days, I know I will need them.